Lib Novel Page 15
We can’t stay in the shelter because it’s not safe. I glance at Byron. He’s staying here, too.
“I’ll stay here,” I say, feeling Byron’s presence next to me like a black hole I’m orbiting and about to fall into. “I can help Byron with this. The faster we get it solved, the faster we can get back into the compound.”
“I don’t need help,” Byron says, raising his eyebrows at me.
“We’ll see about that,” I whisper, running my fingertips over the top of his thigh before taking his laptop from him. The move makes my heart race, and from the way there’s a blush over his cheeks, I imagine it makes him feel something, too.
Later that night, when I showed up at his door, he hooked an arm around my waist and drew me inside. I melt against his sleepy body, moaning into his mouth, letting him lay me down on his bed and take all my clothes off.
We work together to figure out how someone broke into the compound.
“It’s strange because the system accepted the thumbprint, but also doesn’t have it registered in the system,” I say, later in the day. Every night, I show up at his door, but we act like nothing is going on during the day.
He glances at me, eyebrows raised.
“Exactly,” he says, slowly. “That’s why it’s difficult to figure out. I don’t know why the system would treat it that way. It should either be an acceptance or a denial. Whoever this guy is, he did a great job at breaking through our firewall.”
“Right,” I say, before I can stop myself, “because it had to be a guy.”
He’s not misogynistic, he tells me. So why is he always saying stuff like that, insisting he doesn’t need my help, pushing me away?
When I stop showing up at his door, he doesn’t bother coming to mine. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, the hurt radiating through me. During the day, I work tirelessly to figure it out.
Then, I do.
“I told you!” I say, bursting into the room and pointing at Byron, who looks up at me, startled.
“Told me what?” he says, crossing his arms, actually removing his fingers from the keyboard for a moment.
“I told you there was no exploitation in the system—this was not a hacking job, Byron!”
Byron sighed, leaning forward and running a hand through his hair, which looked a little duller than usual.
“Olivia,” he says, glancing up at me with his hands together. “Do you have an explanation for how someone was able to break into our facility without exploiting the system? There has to be something with the cybersecurity that I’m missing.”
“Yes, I do have an explanation,” I say, adrenaline running through me as I put my tablet in his face. Byron reaches up slowly, taking the tablet and scrolling through the proof that there’s a registered user in the system that just isn’t showing up in the database.
Just like I suspected the entire time.
“Oh, no,” he murmurs, before pushing the tablet back into my hands and taking off for the door. Disappointment sinks through me, and I almost hate myself for how much I wanted him to smile at me, proud that I managed to figure it out.
“You’re welcome!” I shout after him, anger and sadness flooding through me. After that, I only want to avoid him, but I can’t. We’re sitting in the lab together as Rosa works on her antidote.
“Just grant me access to the internal systems,” I say.
“I’m not doing that,” Byron answers, teeth gritted.
“Clearly, you need my help with this,” I say, wanting to rub it in his face that I’ve been the one making all the major strides lately.
“I don’t need anyone’s help—I’m trained by one of the most highly sophisticated agencies in the United States.”
I almost laugh. I did a lot of reading on their agency, and I was not impressed.
“Oh, yeah, the agency that had a major leak—with not one but two double agents—that nearly led to widespread chemical warfare? That one?”
For the first time in nearly an hour, Byron is stunned silent. Why would he assume I haven’t done what he would do, if he was in my situation?
I’ve already scoured all the messages and communications of all the people in this pack, just to be safe. Byron turns to me, slowly, and I smile innocently at him.